Another Side, Another Story
by bmlee722
Summary: Riku's time has come. This is his story. Rated T for language. Small LEMON in chapter 14
1. Mr Brightside

_"Everything Happens for a reason. Even if we don't know why. Where's my reason. Why am I this. How did I become this way. A life in darkness and hiding is hardly a life at all. I risked a lot, I gave evrything. All for the world. No one knew. No one thanked me. Well now its my time. My story, my destiny. Now you'll know what I did for you."_

_"Riku?... Riku, wake up."_

"Huh?" I rised up from the dirty wood flor of an abadoned general store. I looked at the only soul in the room besides his. King Mickey Mouse was standing over me with another one of his large grins. "What do you want?"

"Another dream?"

"Yeah," I rolled over to block the sun out of my eyes.

"When did these start?"

"I dunno. About the time we escaped the darkness."

"I think I know what's getting you.

"Really?" I usually made sarcastic remarks like that when I wanted himto leave me alone.

"Yeah, since you always say that none of this was for Sor because he's a stubborn sel-centered jerk, then it has to be all for..."

I shot up like lightning. I knew what he was going to say. "No no no no no. It wasn't."

"You don't even know what I was about to say. Besides, face it. You love her.

"No... I just..."

Mickey sighed at my ignorance. "Love isn't an easy concept, Riku. I play with the heart in more ways darkness ever could. The only way to truly escape that terrible feeling of hate is to find that one woman to be the one to love you forever."

"That made no sense." I lied. It made tons of sense. Kairi meant everything to me. I crossed the world and beyond for her and how does she thank me? She goes to Sora. Sora who did little to nothing compared to me. If they knew what I did, they'd never stop thanking me. I hate my life.

"You continue to lie to yourself, Riku. That's obviously gotten you nowhere. Just try being honest for once."

"You don't understand, Mickey. You're a king. you have it made. Anywhere you go, people praise you for doing the simplest tasks. But me. I give it all up and not so much as a thanks."

Mickey just stared at me. I never knew what he was thinking like I could other people. "Thank you," he said.

What? "What?"

"Thanks, Riku. You deserve better than a life like this."

I felt overjoyed. I didn't know it was so good to be thanked for once. I had to fight back tears. "Thanks,"

"Well, time to get back to buiness. We need to go fast befor the heartless catch on."

"Right."

Mickey and I walked about the bazaar. We were in southern Agrabah. the town was under seige. There were Morning Star heartless at every entrance. There were Bandit heartless attacking anybody who looked as if they were about to revolt. Mickey and I had to go in disguise, or else get attacked. It wasn't like we couldn't take them, but we didn't want to get discovered. we walked up to the gates and greeted the heartless.

"Evening, men." said Mickey.

"No one passes," They said.

"Ahh. We were sent under order of Maleficent to check on worker productivity. Either let us go or get a bad report."

"Yes sir."

They let us out. Heartless were never to bright. We approached our gummi ship, called the Darkness Emmisary, and took of in search of Organization XIII. We traveled the worlds looking for clues as to where thier caste was. Apperantly, they never even stepped foot in Agrabah.

"Riku?"

"Yeah Mickey."

"The Organization has a holographic transporter map in thier castle. Once we arrive, we can use it to locate Destiny Islands."

I didn't say anything, I couldn't. The thought of seeing Kairi again left me speachless. We took our leave and flew toward the next world.


	2. The Wall of Fame

_"They say when there is a small chance, there is a world of hope. So I could have been that chance. The world was dependant on me. I hated it. But that didn't mean I cound't rise to the occasion. I beat the odds and saved the world. Sora help cartoons with thier problems land. Boo hoo. I Took down an evil overlord completely on my own. Sometimes I envy Sora. He got the easy way out. But hey, someone had to give in to the darkness. Otherwise Sora would have died."_

"Riku?"

"Yeah?" I said. I saw Mickey's genial face staring at me. He had another lovable grin.

"C'mon. we're about to land." He jumpped to the wheel and sailed us into a port. Our ship looked like a large disk with a cockpit in the upper left hand corner.

Mickey laned us perfectly. He always was a good driver. So I got off the gummi ship and took a look at the world. It looked like something out of Greek Mythology. Then it hit me. We were in Greek Mythology. I remebered the Olympus Colosium. The colosium had high pilars and was made of pure marble. I took down many foes here. Even Sephiroth himself.

"Look for Philoctetes," Said Mickey.

"Who?"

"He can train you."

"Train me for what?"

"The world to come." He walked away and entered to colosium.

"But wait I still don't fully understand who I'm looking for." I ran after him.

* * *

Inside the colosium was impossible to forget. It looked like a musium of past heroes. I recognized all of the pictures from my last visit, including my own. But there was a new one. In fact two. To add to that, there were two 10-year-old ones I never noticed. The first new was of Sora. So he had to of been here before. The other was of my arch enemy. Ansem. He was stand tall and proud of beating all of the other competitots, but how could he beat them 6 months after his death. Things didn't add up. But the two old ones were of Mickey and Ansem the Wise. They had been here before. I figured that but they were in the same photo and the other old one was a man named Terra. He had a keyblade. Friend or foe, I wanted to meet this Terra.

"C'mon," Mickey called because of my looking at pictures.

"Coming. Hey Mickey?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you ever beat the Hades cup, and the Gold and Platinum rounds?"

"Uhh, no. Let's go, I'm in a hurry."

Srtange. why would Mickey deny beating these tournaments. It's a great honor to win. Things were getting really weird. First Ansem comes here and wins after I kill him. Then I see Mickey's picture on the wall of fame and he denies it. Plus a keyblade-wielder named Terra who looks like a guy worth talking to. It looks like I'm gonna have a long seach after all.


	3. vs Valentine

"So what happened back in the day?" I said. I had just seen a picure of Mickey on Olypus' Hall of Fame. We were stalking the halls of the collasium looking for some guy named Philoctetes.

"I told it's not me in the picture." he was getting angry.

"Micey, your not that ordinary in appearence. I'll ask again. Why are you in the picture."

"I was in the picture because I won, okay. No drop it!."

"C'mon, why won't you tell me?"

"It was a long time ago. And thats not a day that I'd like to remember."

"So what happened?"

"I said I don't want to talk about..."

Mickey couldn't finish that sentence on account that we heard a voice come from under the stands.

"Look. All I need you to do is kill Hercules and we're done. Gone. We can go back to never knowing each other." Said the voice.

We peered our heads thourgh the door and saw two familiar faces having a tense chat. It turns out Hades was trying to bribe Vincent Valentine to enter the competition and kill Hercules.

"I'm no hit man. I'm done with those days. Forget it." Said Valentine.

"Ya see, that's the thing. If you don't do this, I'll curse you for life."

"My life couldn't get any worse."

"Well there is plan B. I could kill you girl if you refuse."

Vincent's eyes widened.

"That's what gets em," said Hades, "They always try to be the hero. They always save the girl. Well let me tell you something. There are no heroes. You're the bad guy either way."

"I don't care what you think. Just don't hurt her and I'll do it."

"Good. So we have an understanding. Now let's get out to the sign-ups."

With that sentence, they left.

"Did you see that?" I screamed. "We gotta stop him."

"I know. But how" Mickey's face curled up into a thinking position.

* * *

"I don't know," said Phil when Valentine handed him the registation in the foyer. You look kinda shadey.

"So I've been told." He said.

Mickey and I entered the foyer just then.

"Pihil," said Mickey, "Howya been old pal?"

"Ehh. Aint to good." He said.

"Why is that."

"Well my main squeeze, Herc's, out for the count. He's feeling a little sick."

"That's odd."

"It can only mean Hades is casuin' trouble butno other heroes feel a thing."

"Well Hades is up to no good. We caught him bribing Vincent Valentine to do off with Herc."

"You gotta be shittin' me, Mouse." He always had a bad habit of cursing.

"Nope. We saw the whole thing."

"So that's what that little so of a bitch is up to. Aww crap. I just gave Valentine a ticket of entry."

"I'll face him." I said.

Phil looked at me like I was crazy. "You do know that Valentine is a trained Assassin, right."

"If it means keeping order, then I'm in."

"Well you got guts kid, I'll give ya that. But Valentine. He won't hold back.

"Listen, i have the keyblade. I won before. I can beat him."

"Phil, I think you should let him try."

"Ehh, why the hell not. You in kid.

"I won't let you down sir. But My I talk to you in private."

"Sure. Anything for a fighter like yourself."

Mickey looked worried. He knew what Phil and I would talk about. "I guess I'll go then." He left.

"Phil, did anything odd occur on Mickey's stay?"

"No, but I do remember the fellow with him."

"Anything strange."

"Yeah, he was the most well-known scientist at the time."

Anse the Wise?"

"How'd ya know."

"Lucky guess. Continue."

"Ok, well this guy was a genius. He let Mickey fight. Now you gotta understand that Mickey was an apprentice of Yen Sid at the time. And an apprentice never does recreation on an assignment. Mickey's assignment was to protect Ansem. Well after Mickey won, he celeberated. During the party, which is trown after every win, it happened.

"What?"

"Ansem was stuying that dark arts and hearts. Now he claims something was calling him from the undercroft. So he went down there. When we found him, he had the shit beat out of him. My guess is Hades. Hades has a collection of hearts from fallen heroes. It's comepletly normal for them to have called Ansem. After that Mickey took every assignment seriously. And he was rarley seen here again. He blamed himself. He thought he failed. Now in his masters eyes, he did. But there was no stoppin' the Wise from finding those hearts. That all?"

"No. I want to hear about Terra."

"TERRA! He was one of the best keyblade wielders I know. He could move the move, he could stike the stike, and he could knock the shit outta ya. He was a true master. Smart guy, too. With a girl with the body of a godess. Never heard of him after that though.

"Do you know where he might be?"

"Well, he was bent of ridding the world of the Unbirths. Which were similar to heartless. I guess he did it since there're no more of them around. I'm sure he's still alive. Nothing could take him down, not even all 5 titans at once. Which he proved to me 10 years ago."

"So this guy was the real deal. I think it'd be an honor to learn from him."

"Damn right. I remeber his knock-out move: The Keyblade Cannon."

"Keyblade Cannon?"

"He'd use some trick and make his keyblade shoot a huge ball, 5 feet in diameter, and blaslt his opponent into next week."

"Sounds cool. Well, thanks Phil. That's all.

"Any time. And good luck, kid."

"Thanks."

* * *

"So how good is Valentine?" I asked Mickey.

"Strong. He relies on guns and far-ranged attacks."

"So all I have to do if make it close-range. Piece of cake."

"It's not going to be that easy. Valentine is incredibaly fast. You'll have to keep chalk on your heels to catch up"

"So concentration is key."

"Of couse. And use you heart to read his eyes. It can detect his next move."

"Got it"

"And remember. We don't want to kill him. You just have to milk the fight out to keep hades attention while I look for his girl."

"How'll you know where she is."

"I have my ways. Now the rounds are beginning. You should go."

* * *

The first few rounds were easy. They were just stuck-up boys attempting to be heroes. It take more than them to be heroes. The entire time I fought I couldn't help but think of Terra. The way Phil described him, he was a real hero. I tried to practice eye-reading and speed. I was doing well. Phil said Terra used his keyblade as a cannon. Maybe I could try that on Valentine.

The time finally came. It was the final two. The winner fought Hercules. It was me and Valentine. No one else. I had to say, he looked tough, but I was ready. As soo as Phil started to game, Valentine unleased some killer combos. Mickey was right, he was quick. I chased after him and got a few hits. Mickey always told me to count steps and strikes. By then my step count was up to 122 and my hit count was 2 and my attempt count was 19. He was tough. He had over 50 hits on me. I had no choice. The fight was already lasting long. The 2 hour mark to be exact. I jumped into the air and glided in place. I put all my heart into one powerful strike. I could see a ball a blue lightning at the end of my keyblade, it was light blue. It shell-shocked valentine. Once it got big enough, I unleashed it. it hit Valentine right in the chest. It knocked him over 20 yards, right into the stands. He was breathing, but now getting up. I had won.

"WINNER!" Phil sounded so excited to see the Keyblade Cannon again.

Mickey was running up with a girl with dark long hair who immediatly ran up to Valentine. We conqued Hades once more.

* * *

"Do you have to go so soon?" Phill asked at the docking bay of our ship.

"Yeah, but it was fun." I said.

"And you tell us if Hades is causin' any more trouble." Now that we were leaving, Mickey was back to his old self. It was best not to bring up the incident here.

There was no sign of the Organization's castle here. So we took our leave and headed toward a new world.


	4. When Mickey met Minnie

_"They say that the medal goes not to the winner but to the better man. well were's my medal. I gave it all for this world and now look where I am. I'm not good enough to be in the apprenticeship of the king. I'm not good enough to live. No wonder Kairi went to..."_

"Ahhhhh!"

""Riku, Riku. What is it?" Mickey stop the cooking of steak-ums and rushed over to me. "Was it the dreams again?"

"Yeah. BUt this one wan't the sme. Instead of pointing out what I did, it pointed out what I did wrong."

"And you were scared of that?"

I didn't dignify that with an answer.

"It involed Kairi, didm't it Riku."

"Yeah. It said that she desreves o real hero. and that's not me."

"Riku, don't say that. You are a hero and we have millions of people who think so."

"Then why doesn't the only person who matters think so."

"Kairi does think you're a hero."

"Then why is Sora the one who she chose?"

"She didn't technicaly chose anybody. She just fell for Sora becasue he was there for her. You... tried to take her heart."

"But that wasn't me. I was possed."

"Kairi was traumatized. Being in the darkness doesn't give you nice thoughts. She was vaulnerable and felt that Sora was there for her."

I paused. I took in evry word of this conversation.

"And you're stubborn."

"What?"

"Girls throw themselves at you where ever we go. Maybe if you take you mind off Kairi, you'll find yourself less attracted to her."

"Well I love her. She's strong, loyal, beautiful. Not to mention she has the heart of a princess."

Mickey sighed. "Did I ever tell you the time I first met Minnie."

I stopped to think. "I don't think."

"Well it's a fine story. It was back in boating days. My boss was a true jerk. Pete."

"You worked for Pete?"

"Yeah, well I was an adolecence and I needed money. Anyway, I was a boat hand. I wanted money to impress to most beautiful girl in the world: Minnie Weiss, Weiss was her maiden name of couse. So I did all I could to whoo her, but she always fell for Mortimer. Mortimer was an even bigger jerk that Pete, except he was a big coward, too, but you don't know that yet. So when I finally have the money to give her the date she deserved, she goes on a picnic by the docks with Mortimer. I could help but stare in rage and shock. They were getting lovey dovey and kissed a bit. Well when Pete's boat came around, he had a bull named Ringo from Russia for the Timeless River Circus, which I starred in. Well Pete didn't know that Ringo was scared easily, especially of strangers. He charged Minnie and Mortimer. They ran and Mortimer got in his car and drove off yelling 'every man for himself, babe'. Now Pete and I both got instructions on how to calm Ringo. Pete was too fat and lazzy to do anything and the bull had Minnie cornered between the Garage and the Pier Shop. So I ran up to that bull and pulled it's nose ring as hard as I could and stared it in the eyes, then I grabbed his nose till he was fast asleep. Minnie was so grateful, she smooched me and allowed me to take her on a date. So I had all my savings and the money for calming Ringo and gave her the night of her life. We eventually got married and became king and queen of the Disney Castle. So see Riku, All you have to do is save her in her time of need. Don't be A her, be HER hero."

"Don't be a hero... be her hero. That makes sense." Thanks for the story, Mickey."

"Any time."

The silence was interrupted by the landing siren.

"We're entering the Land of the Dragons system!" proclaimed Mickey. "Prepare for landing."


	5. The Powers of Darkness

Mickey and I landed in some thick bamboo. We made our way out of it. What we found wasn't pretty. Hundreds of heartless were every where. The were patrolling the entire area. Luckily, Mickey had I had some pretty nifty disguises. I was a poverty-stricen farmer and he was a small messenger boy. We entered the town square.

"Halt!" shouted to voise of an Assult Rider heartless. "Who are you?"

"We are the Messengers of the land, dire and secret news must be delivered to Maleficent at the ridge as soon as posssible." said Mickey.

"You may proceed."

Mickey was pretty clever. It turns out that an army training camp was in a direct path of the ridge. The army of Catpain Lee. He had an army of the outskirts. They were pretty good, but never won a major battle. I guess they have another enemy besides the Huns. The Heartless.

We reached to encampment, but didn't receive a warm welcome.

"Stop stranger!" yelled a watch man.

"It's okay." Mickey took off his hood and the man bowed.

"You're majesty. It was a mere accedent. I had no idea..."

"It's okay." he said again. "Although I do wish to speak with Lee."

"You wish is my command, sir." we followed the man to the most dapper tent. Lee was meditating inside."

"Uhh... sir" squeaked the man.

"What!" Said Captian Le angered.

"King Mickey Mouse is here to see you."

"Ohh," Lee's face turned red, "Well let him in."

"I'm already in Lee." said Mickey.

"Wha?" Lee turned around, his face as red as a fresh tomato. "My apologies, sir. I did not mean for you to see any interaction between captain and soldier."

"No problem. Soldiers need to be kept in line."

"Your kindness is as great as your strenght you majesty."

"Well I didn't come on a 'kindness' trip. I need you soldiers."

"It would be no less that an honor to be a member your your army sir. Although, Land policy states that neither soldier nor apprentice my hear the war plans. Pardon me, but those two must leave."

"What ever," I said.

The soldier and I walked out. Lee looked like a typical Asian captain with the mustache and everything. I went with the soldier for a while.

"So, you gotta name?" He asked.

"Riku. You?"

He lifted his helmet, he had spiky blonde hair and fair skin, "Cloud."

* * *

"So Maleficent is in the ridges," said Lee as he scratched his beard, "Well I had no idea. She must have deployed the heartless from the tip of the mountain."

"Yes," said Mickey, "We need to stop her. If we succeed, we'll still have to do something about the heartless still here and the..."

"Well China has the best army for clearing out the heartless."

"Yes but..."

"We've taken down guerilla huns in a matter of minutes."

"Lee, there is a skyline the heartless use to get from world to world. They can use that to send more unless we clog it up."

Lee was speachless, "How do you know this?"

"I've been traveling via gummi for a while."

I listened to the entire conversation from the door. Something was fishy about Lee. Why was he interuppting Mickey? Why was he so suspicuos when Mickey claimed to know of the skylines?"C'mon, Cloud, we're gonna get to the bottom of this." Cloud and I walked around the tent.

"And Leave immediatly!" shouted two voices at once. One was Lee's and the other was... Maleficent.

I grabbed Cloud and ran around the corner to face the she-demon.

"Maleficent!" I shouted.

"Who?" siad Cloud.

"So you've never heard of me boy. Strange, since I was so in league with Hades."

Just then Mickey jumpped thourgh the wall.

"Here's a tip, Mal, next time you want to use a mans darkness, turn off the mic when you're talking to someone else."

"So you're here, too"

"Wait, you were behind the hades incident?" said Cloud.

Maleficent raised her arms and one giant heartless emerged from behind the mountains and swooped at us. While we were ducking, Maleficent ran.

"Riku, go after her. Cloud and I will take care of this."

I ran toward the ridge. I used the power given to me in Castle Oblivion to track her down. I could smell darkness. Right now she really stank. She was up to something big. She ran into a cave. I followed. The inside was like the inside of a dark church with hundreds of candels in every corner. Maleficent wasn't the only person in the cave, there were two other men behind her. Two men I knew very well. The man lighting candles was Captain Hook, a pirate who tried to con me into giving him Kairi. There other was the one and only Sephiroth. Sephiroth was a legendary hero gone bad. No body took any attention to me. It was almost as if they didn't know I was there.

"Why so short of breath, Maleficent?" asked Captain Hook.

"I was being chased by the boy of darkness. But no worry, I lost him."

It was then I realized it. It hit me like a ton of bricks. They didn't know I was there. But I was standing in the light. Captain Hook even looked right at me. Was this a new power of the darkness?

"You said there was SOLDIER here incogneato. I'll summon the Bahamut, but first I want to see the SOLDIER." said Sephiroth.

"All in good time, my boy," she said, "Now let's get started."

Sephiroth took the center of the cave. He took a summon position and a gold circle, 10 feet in diameter, glowed around him. The rays from the circle shined to the top of the cave. It eventually broke a hole, the size of the circle, in the ceiling of the cave. A giant winged beast decsended from the sky, into the circle. It was a Bahamut. Maleficent called several Neoshadows to ravenge it's heart. The Heartless Bahamut was a heartless now and under Maleficents control.

"With the powere of the Bahamut, we can take complete control of the Land of Dragons." Maleficent let out an evil laugh. I was about to strikke just as a hand grabbed my shoulder.

"Don't move." it said.

I turned around. It was him: Terra.


	6. The Enigmatic Knight

"Terra?"

"Shhh." he said. He pulled me out of the cave.

"What the? What, c'mon we can take them." I said.

"No."

"No? What do you mean 'no'. You're Terra, the strongest Keyblade wielder who ever lived. You're a hero."

"I'm no hero."

"Yes you are. You ridded the world of the Unbirths.

"Killing doesn't make me a hero. It doesn't matter now, anyway."

"Huh?"

"C'mon, there's a village nearby, I'll tell you what's going on there."

We walked a short distance to a small Chinese village. There was a smal tea shop called the 'Jasmine Dragon'. Terra went inside.

* * *

The inside of the tea shop was tranquil. It was peaceful. The color scehem was brown and white. There were few tables, but less customers. Terra sat in one with no windows around it.

"C'mon, kid." he said.

I sat down with him. There were a few questions I had.

"Listen, Riku is it?"

"Yeah, how'd you know."

"Bro, everyone in the dungeons of Hollow Bastion knows you. You set us free."

"Wait. Terra, none of this is adding up. I have tons of questions but no answers."

"I'll do my best to give you them."

"Okay well. Why were in a dungeon in Hollow Bastion?"

"Well once Ansem came, he arrseted all rebels. Those who were, were locked up. Those who weren't left. Ihad no reason to fight him. One huge mistake is to take on someone who you know nothing about. Now I just thought I'd get the word on him while I was in the brig, but Ansem the Wise was down there, too. He was tortured by some guy at Olympus to rig the walls with so much darkness that no keyblade could be summoned. So with the help of Ansem, I figured out evreything about Ansem. It turns out he..."

"Was a former student of Ansem who became a heartless and took the name Ansem to bring down his former teacher?"

"Exactly. You should know since you beat him. Well no matter how much dirt I dug up on Ansem, I still had no keyblade. But when you killed him, We were set free."

"Hmm? I have to tell that to a friend. Next, why couldn't we fight Maleficent in the cave?"

"They had us cornered. It's not wise to fight someone when you're outmatched."

"But you took on all five titans at once."

"True, but the Bahamut is way stronger than any titan, so is Sephiroth. It would've been us killed, and the Bahanut on the loose. We'll fight it with more help."

"So..." I took a look at him. He hadn't aged much. He was just the same as he was in the photo. "So, could you teach me? Ya know, like all of your moves and stuff?"

Terra looked a little flustered, but not enough to tell. "Look, Riku, you got potential and some mad skills. It'd be easy to make you great. But I'm kinda on the..."

"There he is!" shouted to men thourgh the window.

"Gotta run," Terra summoned his keyblade and smashed thourgh a wall and ran away. I could only look in disbelief.

* * *

I walked back the the encampment only to see it in flames. Mickey and Could were laying uncoinsince on the ground.

"Mickey!" I ran over to his body.

He coughed a few times, "Sephiroth," he caughed more, "Bahamut," he looked down the path toward town square, "Another Keyblade."

"Where? Where are they?"

"Sephiroth, Bahamut, gone. Keyblade, Imperial Square." He weezed.

I got up and ran to Imperial Square as fast as I could. Sephiroth and the Bahamut were on the loose. No time to think about them. I had to find this other keyblade.

I reached Imperial Square. It was a inaugural of a new emporer. I looked at the roof of the temple behind him. There was a woman crawling around on it. I ran thourgh the crowd, to the side of the temple, up the wall.

"Stop." I said. The woman looked at me. She was beautiful. She had blue hair and deep blue eyes. The way her body looked was incredible. 'I-I mean..."

"No," she said, "Don't lay off because I'm a woman. Fight me." She summoned her keyblade and charged at me.

I kept that hit in a lock.

"You're pretty good," she said and took her keyblaade back, "I'm Aqua."

"Riku." I said.

"So you're the one who set those rebels free?"

"I guess. So what are you doing here."

"Looking for my master. What are you doing here."

"I don't know."

"You look down. Tell Aqua your trouble."

I looked at her. Anyone that beautiful couldn't be harmful. "Well my master an I were looking for the Castle That Never Was, but we getting really sidetracked."

"Well, my master is also my boyfriend, but I never knew the Hero of Hollow Bastion was so cute."

I blushed, "Thanks."

"So tell me about your master."

"He's the King. He was..."

"King Mickey?"

"Yeah."

"Wow, I thought my master was famous."

"Who is he?"

"Terra."

"No way. I just got done having a talk with him. It turns out he's on the run."

"I know. He did some things niether of us are proud of."

"What were they?"

Aqua looked at the sky, "Well it all started when he was released. He and Ansem the Wise went looking for all of thier past apprentices. Eventually they went thier seperate ways. Ansem found out that all of his apprentices betrayed him and became heartless. So he came to Terra for help. Terra refused to help bring down the apprentices. He said that he was done killing. Apparently Ansem the Wise had shown him that mindless killing isn't the answer. Ansem became ashamed that he turned the worlds greatest fighter into another him. So he went into exile, but they weren't done yet. Ansem couldn't just vanish. He needed to have a way for everyone to know his shame. He asked Terra to kill him. Terra obviously refused, but according to Terra, Ansem said 'Don't worry, the world's not done with you yet'. To this day I don't know how he got Terra to kill him, but the cops have no idea that Ansem died on his own request, but Terra can't tell anyone that he did either. If the world does need Terra again, I hope it's soon."

I took in the story, it's another answer but even more questions. Why did Ansem have die, how did he come back to life, how did he get Terra to kill him, what does 'The world's not done with you yet', mean?

"Riku!" Shout a voice from behind him. It was Mickey. "Thank God you're alright. C'mon, we need to get out of here."

I looked back at Aqua, "Not with out Terra."

"What? Riku, Terra's dead."

Aqua and my eyes widened.


	7. Page 1

"What? What do you mean he's dead?" I asked Mickey.

"I mean he was just shot down by Sniper nobodies." He said.

Sniper nobodies were nobodies that carried guns. "How could that've killed him. He's the greatest keyblade master in the world and a shot from a Sniper can't kill that easily."

"Well, he he sacrificed himself and it wasn't A shot it was A HUNDRED shots at his chest."

"Well we can't just leave him. We have to go back and get hi s body." I turned back at Aqua only to see her sobbing.

"I'll explain it in the ship but now the nobodies are after us so let's go."

I grabbed Aqua and followed Mickey to our ship. We were indeed being chased by Snipers. We got to the ship and Mickey took and immediate take off and I set Aqua down to let MIckey explain. Once we were out of orbit and were all settled, Mickey began to talk.

"You may want to know the story of Terra's last breath. Well, there's a lot. It all starts back to the day I was at the Olympus Collisium 10 years ago. It turns out the Ansem was tortured when he went to find the darkness that was calling him. He made a jail cell that trapped him and Terra. He couldn't get over his own shame that he imprisoned to keyblade's true master, but he could take action until he was freed. Once he was let go with Terra he went into a deep depression and even a little insane. He was going on and on about some man named 'The Apprentice'. Anyone who asked or even talked about 'The Apprentice' would be beaten by him. He felt either angered or connected to the 'apprentice'. Well, one day, Terra walked into Ansem's office to find that Ansem had been acting the whole time. Ansem wasn't crazy, in fact, he was more brilliant than ever. He knew that there was no use of covering up his lie to Terra. Terra could be trusted. So he told Terra evrything. He even gave him his notes, which he said that 'when he dies, give to Mickey, but only when the time is right'. So Terra kept this secret. He came back to Ansem to hear some new resaerch. But Ansem didn't ask him for anything expected. He asked Terra to held him die. He says that everything else in is this notebook. So Terra hanged Ansem. After the funeral, Ansem left a note to Terra in his will. Terra read the letter and it said 'You need to come with me'. So Terra knew what must be done. He waited until war broke out and the heartless had more control than ever, then he became a criminal. He did all of this to die. But first he had to meet me. So when he came to that encampment being chased by cops, he gave me a notebook and told me what it meant. He then Sacrificed himself to the cops who turned in Snipers and summoned more Snipers. They all shot him down and came after me. He had a heroic death. The only question left is why this notebook says 'Too Riku'."

"What?"

"That's right. This' notebook is for you."

I toook the book from Mickey and walked back to my bunk.

* * *

I flipped through it. It only had 13 pages. I decided to start at page one:

_Riku, if you are reading this, I am dead. There are secerets that need to be known. I trust that you can carry them out. We may not know each other but we have met. Now it is important that you read this book in order and do not skip a single word for everything I am about to say is vital to the war. You were given a keyblade for a reason. Sora was just the beginning of my revenge. You will be the hero. Your time will come. But first I must tell you about the man called Terra. You have probably already met. DO NOT believe a word he says. He is covering for me. Everyone is. I've told the world a lie and the truth is only to be known by me and you. So DO NOT show this notebook to anyone under any circumstances. Terra was a strong soul. He was always willing to fight. But it was his stregth that made him weak. He thought too much of the keyblade and that both enpowered him and weakened him. He was the strongest keyblade master in the world. But his reighn has come to an end. Your time is now. You will be the next greatest keyblade master. _

And that was the end of page one. I'll finish the book later, I'll sleep now.


	8. Born by Darkness, Found By Light

"Riku?"

I tried to wake up, but I was so tired. I just got done reading the wierdest thing I've ever read.

"Riku, wake up."

I was now awake for the most part. I was still tired but I could walk and talk. I looked over and Aqua was standing over me. with puffy eyes from crying so much.

"Riku, Mickey asked me to ask you if you had another dream."

I thought about it. I didn't. "No."

"Ok." she left.

I picked up the book and turned to page two.

_Riku, so you have finished page one. Now it is time for you to learn about your father. It is not easy to tell you this but you need to know this to understand to rest of the book. Your father's name is Xehanort. I know this is shocking, but you can use this information to further your training. There is a backstory. of Xehanort, or soon to be Ansem. Before Xehanort became a heartless, he met a nice dane in Travers Town. She was beautiful, smart and independent. Her name was Maleficent. She was a nice woman back then, a lot younger and prettier, too. They were inseperable. They were always near each other. But times were changing, war was coming and Maleficent found out she was pregnant. She was worried, she knew her baby wouldn't survive the war. But back in her village, children could start thier own families at 16, so she searched the land for a woman for you, But you would be dead. So she wanted to find a beautiful baby girl and kill her so you could meet in the afterlife. She decided on Auora. A Prnicess. Now at this time, Xehanort was having troubles of his own, he was being more and more seduced by the darkness. He finally gave in and became one, but not an ordinary one. He became thier king. Maleficent was devastated of hearing this. As a heartless, Xehanort couldn't remember a thing. So she realized if she couldn't let him go, she'd join him. So she waited until you were born and left to join the heartless. She became thier leader from the other side. So they ruled together, but would never be together. After you parents both became members of the darkside. Mickey and I decided to put you in a place where you couldn't leave and you parents could never find you. They would try to turn you into a heartless. So that is the reason you aren't afraid to face the darkness head on, but you still hate it. So now you know the truth. You must use your power to be one with the darkness to conquer it. You must also confront your mother and father head on. tell them that you are thier son and maybe this war can end. _

I slammed the book. It's not possible that my mortal enemies are my parents. Why did this happen. Why was I born_. It is so you can completely rid the world of darkness_. Who are you?_ Your new go to guy. _

Mickey walked into the room.

"Riku, we're about to land."

"Mickey, was my father really Ansem?"

Mickey stood in his tracks. He face frozen from fear. "How... how do you know this?"

'I don't I was hoping you could tell me."

"Well, he's not. So stop thinking it."

"Ok, thanks." I knew he was lying.

* * *

We landed in Port Royal. Mickey, Aqua, and me walked to the docks. There was a gun fight so we avoided it. We walked in the the village and looked for the capital building. There was a woman called Elizabeth waiting for us.

"She sent us a hologram asking for help."

"So what's wrong?"

"We'll find out when we get there."

We asked around and found out that it was behinf the ramparts. So we walked there and the door was open, so we walked in.

"Hello?" yelled Mickey, "Is anyone home?"

"Up here." called a womans voice from up the stairs.

"I'll go" I said.

''Me too." said Aqua.

Mickey looked disappionted about being denied the role of going places first but gave us a signal to go. we walked upstairs and wlked into the master bedroom. The was a beautiful woman curled up in a ball crying on a bed.

"You're not Mickey. I can only talk to Mickey." she said.

"Elizabeth, I'm Mickey' apprentice. I can help."

"No, only Mickey."

"Can you at least tell me your problem?"

She hesitated. "My fiance has been kidnapped."

Aqua went over and sat beside her. "My boyfriend is dead."

Elizabeth sat up. "Maybe you two can help me."

"We can," sadi Aqua, "Do you know who took him?"

"Yes. It was Black Beard. The most cruel pirate in all the seven seas."

"He may be the cruelest, but he's not the best." I said. "Aqua, you stay here and comfort Elizabeth because you know the most about this, Mickey and I will look for him."

"OK, I'm fine with that."

* * *

I walked back down stairs and Mickey was back to his cheary self.

"What put you in such a good mood?" I asked.

"Oh nothing," he said, "it's just starting to feel like things are going back to normal. After the Terra's death I thought things would change forever, but now I feel good to be back on a mision."

"Well that's good to hear." Although nothing would be the same for me. I just found out a life-changing truth.

"So what's the mission?" he asked.

"Swan's husband was kidnapped by Black Beard."

"Oh c'mon. Just cause things are back to normal doesn't mean that it should be easy again."

"Well if we're going to succeed, we need a ship."

"And thats easy for a keyblade master."

* * *

Mickey and I walked down to the docks. There were a lot of ships. We decided we would steal a ship called the "S.S. Heaven". I liked the name. We sailed for a half an hour till we found another ship. I looked thourgh the spyglass and saw the name, "The Bearded Maiden". We found Black Beard.


	9. Black Beard

"Ok Riku," said Mickey, "We slowly sail over there and jump aboard. We use our keyblades to block bullets. Block the same way you do for lasers. We find the toughest guy aboard anf take him down. Once they see that we're serious, they'll back off. By then Black beard'll came out to see the commotion. You distract him while I look for Turner. Got it?"

"Got it."

We sailed over to the ship and jumped of. Mickey was right, there were a lot of bullets. But they weren't hard to get by. We found a large man with bulging muscles and two swords. Mickey jumped in the air and struck a few times. The guy was pretty stupid since he used both sowrd to block. You never use two swords to block. While he was blocking, I jabbed at his spleen. He grabbed his stomach and fell over. The bullets stopped.

"What be the noise out there?" Black Beard came out of his cabin. I see why the call him Black beard. He had a dark beard from his lower lip to his waist. "Who are ye?" he asked.

"I am the King Mickey Mouse. This is my apprentice Riku. i come to ask for your prisoner, William Turner."

"Ha! There be no room on me ship for any of ye king, Mouse. And ye aint be gettin me captive neither. So ye might as well turn aroung and kick ye ass the hell off me ship."

"Sir, you need more manners, and some speach classes wouldn't hurt either."

Ther was an 'ooh' from the crew.

"No one be insultin me on meown ship. King or not. This means we fight, unless ye scared, Mouse."

"I'm afraid I can't fight you, but my apprentice will."

"So ye be havin ye squire fight ye battles for ye, ehh Mouse. Ah well, I be killin ye both anyway. Engaurd, Riku."

I summoned my keyblade.

"Riku," Mickey whipered to me, "Don't take Black Beard lightly. He may be stupid, but he can fight."

"I'll be sure of that."

Black Beard charged at me. He was strong, but slow. I doged his attacks with out even taking a step.

"So ye be a quick one, ehh?"

"Yeah." I took a few quick swings at him which lifted him off the ground. I jumpped and unleashed an air combo. I flung him around. Eventually I fulg his body over the sea. I cast a firaga spell which made him go further. I looked down and Mickey was gone, he went after Will. I used a magnet spell to bring Black Beard back to me. I used a lot of strength to throw him back to the ground. He hit so hard that the boat sunk a few feet then bounced around a bit. He was down, but to be safe, I sent a dark aura at him. He was lying in a familiar position. It was the same as Vincents when I beat him.

He breathed in and out for a little, "Ye be a fine competitor, Riku. Ye have my respect... and me loyalty. Take Turner, he was for ransom anyway."

"I hate to break it to you, by my master already went to get Truner. He knew I would win and prepared."

"So ye are a smart bunch," he got up, "Well in the time bein, It is smart to tell ye that any pirate answers to me. It is also known that there be a war at the hands of ye king. If needed, we pirates of Port Royal have ye backs ine the war. Here here!" shouted Black Beard.

"Here, Here!" shouted his crew.

"So do ye accept my offer."

"Of course. Only a dumb man would turn down a pirates trust."

"I be glad ye be thinkin that."

Mickey walked up on the deck with Will Turner.

"Mickey, good news, the pirates have our back in the war."

"That's great Riku."

"Now fine gentlemen like yeselves shouldn't be riden no run down ship like that. Ye be goin back to the Prot with us, men."

"Well that's fine." said Mickey.

* * *

Once back at Port Royal, Mickey and I returned to the capital. We found Elizibeth and Aqua having an intriuging chat with some chocolates and a flim strip.

"Honey, I'm home." said Will.

"Oh Will." she ran up and flung her arms around him. "How can I ever repay you."

"You can have our backs in the war, Miss Swan." said Mickey.

"Of course."

"And," I said, "You can let us use you world-to-world mail service."

"But that's only for Port officials... But we can make an acception.

I walked into the mail room and took a piece of parchment and quill. I wrote:

_Dear Kairi. I know it has been long, but there's something I've been meaning to tell you..._

I wanted more than anything to have the courage to write that I loved her, but I couldn't.

_Kairi, I want you to wait for me. I'll be home soon. Riku._

I stuck the letter in the box addresed "Destiny Islands".

"Why can't you just admit that you love her." said Mickey. Everyone else had left the room.

"I... I'm scared."

"So you can take down a dark lord, but you can't confess love to a woman."

"It's complicated. She loves Sora."

"Minnie loved Mortimer. just..."

"I know, don't be a hero, be her hero."

"Right, well c'mon. We gonna leave in a little bit."

"OK, I'm coming."

I knew that once the war was over, I'd have the maps and I'd return. We just need to get more allies and I need to finish that journal.


	10. The Temple of the Keyblade

"So it's good the dreams stopped." said Mickey "That's a sign of miving on."

"Good cause they were fetting worse and worse."

I faked hapiness for the ride to a new world. I just couldn't stop thinking abou my parent. They were both my moral enemies. What's worse, I turned them to the darkness. I had to finish the journal. "Well, I'm gonna catch up on my reading."

"Oh, I'll take the wheel."

I went back to my bunk and picked up the book. Page three wasn't too long, it said:

_So how are you taking this new news. I would have waited to tell you but you need to know your past to be prepared for the future. I didn't mean to cause you any mental harm. In fact, due to my reseach, life-changing news can actually stop a mental ailment. They say sometimes you talk to yourself but that symptom only lasts a few minutes. Now I must warn you to be extremely careful. For one slip up could turn you mad, very mad. You cannot be exposed to any high amounts of radiation. The conseques could be dire. The last and most important thing is to stay away from any love intrests. For they can get a mans heart pumpping to unknown rates. Any high blood movement for you is deadly now. Don't ask why, it'll be explained later._

That was all. Just a few warnings, nothing important. So I decided to go to the next page.

_If I know my friend, King Mickey Mouse, he is probably taking you on some mad gummi ship adventure. He always had a liking to gummi ships. He even built one called, the "Darkness Emissary". That's not important. What is important is that you give him the coordinates to Sunset Horizons. They are 71.568920 stars west and 54.7765 stars north. He knows what that means, don't worry. But what I am about to tell you is vital. You must follow the light north. But you must go alone. Not even the king may go. You will find yourself at the Temple of the Keyblade. Enter this temple. You must listen and learn, for everything you learn here can help you win the war. you will find the light and cure yourself of your curse._

The Temple of te Keyblade? "Hey Mickey."

"Yeah?"

"I got some coordinates for ya."

* * *

Sunset Horizons was nothing but a barren canyon. The only thing interesting was the ray of blingding light from the sun.

"I think I'll explore a bit." I said

"Do you need me to come with you?" asked Aqua.

"No, I'm good. Mickey you should stay, too." I looked around. There was no trail of light. I though about it. How can I see the light. I thought about my powers I could smell darkness so maybe I could smell light. I inhaled. It smelled wonderful, it was like home-made pie with a tal glass of milk. It kind of reminded me of Destinany Islands. I followed the scent for a few hours until I saw a large temple-like structure in the horizon. I ran to it. It had heiroglyphics all over it. They were of people fighting monsters with keys. I picked up a rock and etched my own drawing in. It was of me fight with Mickey and a man with darkness around him. It described my stay at Castle Oblivion. I wlked inside and after I did, the doors shut.

"Welcome, Riku." Called a voice. Terra stepped out of the darkness.


	11. The Escape

"Terra? I thought you were dead."

"You 'thought' I was dead." he said. "No keyblade master ever really dies, he just comes here."

"But... but I'm not dead."

"You micket as well be. The only way you can return is to escape this Hell hole. That's what Ansem did.

"Ansem the Wise? He escaped.?"

"Yep. He got the plans to this building from the builders apprentice. That's why he was always talking about him."

"So Ansem's still alive out there."

"Well if I know Ansem, he's in hiding anyway, but yeah, he's alive."

This news was great. I could finally ask Ansem about his journal.

"So did ya get the notebook, kid." Terra wlked away and turned a lantern on.

"Yeah. It turns out that it's causing some trouble."

"Yeah, gifts from him do that. So how'd you die?"

"I'm not dead. The notebook told me..." I thought about how it said never to share the information with anyone. "To find you."

"Strange. Why would he say that you had to find me when he knew I'd be dead. Ah well, it's okay if you don't want to tell me the truth. So how's Aqua."

"She's better. She was a little depresed when you died though."

"I hope. It'd be bad if she wasn't since we dated for 10 years."

"Wait? 10 years? Why didn't you just get married?"

"Well, there was a war. Did you ever hear of that coulple that got pregnant and then got turned into heartless. Ansem ended up taking the baby. He said it had great potential and will someday end the war if tought right."

"Yeah... I... I've heard." I couldn't help but think of the fact that he was talking about my parents. "Terra, did you ever hear something that could change you life forever."

"Yeah. Once. But things like that don't come by often."

"What was it?"

"When Ansem told me that I was supposed to die. He said I shouldn't have been born because I had a heart to strong to be given through a person, but he also said that I had the power to defeat destiny. So he trained me."

"Yeah. That's sounds life-changing..."

"Something buggin ya."

"Yeah, but don't worry about it. It's just this girl."

"Girl trouble?"

"Yeah, but what do you know about that? You dated a girl for 10 years."

"True, but I also had trouble with that relationship and previous ones. Besides, Ansem said that the only way to find the secret of life is to die. I saw the secret. Maybe it can help you."

"What is it?"

"You have to see for yourself. So who is she."

"Kairi. You should see her. She has beautiful eyes. She's gorgeous, perfect really. She smart and independent. She's even a princess of heart."

"So what's the deal? You afraid to talk to her?"

"No. She loves someone else."

"Who?"

"My best friend."

"Ow. Dude that's gotta hurt."

"Tell me aobut it."

Within that conversation, I felt like I knew Terra for so long. I mean, I only knew him for 10 minutes, but I felt more comfortable talking to him than I did Mickey.

"So, you just need to show her that you care for her more."

"Really? Sora saved her life though."

"Riku, you've been talkin to me for a hour now, and if there is one thing I learned from it is that you are stronger that Sora."

"Then why does she love him?"

"Well, she doesn't even know that you did all that."

I blushed a little. "Well, I don't mean to change the subject, but we need to find a way out."

"I agree."

"Then why aren't you moving?"

"Kid, I looked all over this place and couldn't find a single exit. There's no way you can find one."

"Oh yeah?" I stuck my nose in the air and sniffed. The whole place smelled of light. But one place smeel even better. It was to my right, up some stairs. "Up there."

Terra and I followed the scent til we reached a stone wall. "The smell stops here."

"That's quite the gift. Where'd ya get it?"

"Castle Oblivion. It was never clear why, though. But that's not important now. Now I know that the exit is behind these doors."

"Allow me." He summoned his great keyblde and pointed it at the door and let a beam of light at it. Then, he brought it back and swung as hard as he could at the wall. The brick fell out to reveal a keyhole. "So that's the way out." Terra stuck his keyblade in and turned it. "Hold on it's jammed."

"How can a keyblade get jammed?"

"I don't know, but it is."

_Try the darkness, Riku_

"You again?"

"What?" said Terra.

_Just try it_

"Terra, move." I shot a dark aura at the keyhole, it let Terra's keyblade out but didn't open the door.

"Ansem said that the best way to open a way to a new world is to balance the dark and the light. Meybe we should shoot together." said Terra.

Terra shot a light beam simultaniously as I did my dark aura. Then he tried to unlock it again. He turned his key and pulled it out. The door opened.

We stepped out into the ouside world, but it wasn't Sunset Horizons. In fact, I had no idea where we were.

"Stop, thief." said a voice from behind us.

We turned around, the temple was gone. There was a walking card with three hearts one it. "You are trespassing on the Queen of Herats kingdom of Wonderland. You trial awaits.

"Not likely." said Terra as he sliced the card in half with a swing of the keyblade.

"Help! Help!" In a matter of seconds, 51 other cards came and pointed spears at us.

"Okay. Maybe that was a mistake." said Terra.


	12. Riku in Wonderland

"Hear, Hear," said a stout man with a scroll. Terra and I were standin in an outdoor courtroom surounded by crad warriors in a place called Wonderland. Talk about an acid trip. At least thats what it felt like. "Please rise for the Queen of Hearts."

A fat woman entered the garden court from a door in the hedge maze.

"Whp were the hoodlums trespassing on my land. Where is that rabbit and who the Hell are they."

"Ma'am," said a card, "those are the men who trespassed."

"Oh. Well, GUILTY!. Off with thier heads."

"Don't we deserve a fair court trial?" asked Terra.

The queen looked angry. "Fine," she looked at some papers, "So you men are keyblade wielders. I hate keyblade wielders. One came here once and tried to kill my precious heartless."

"Heartless?" I said, "You trust the Heartless?"

"Of course. I give them soldiers to turn into shadows in turn for protection."

I had to think fast. "Well, my master and I are here to win your alliance in the war. Soldiers as fine as yours would be a glad addition to Mickey's army."

"Mickey? King Mickey? The man who came with Ansem the Wise 8 years ago, asking for the same soldiers."

"Uhhh... I'll guess, yeah. Sounds like him."

"So you want me to join you in a war against my own warriors?"

"No not at all, your royal highness. You see, we wish no harm to the Heartless. We are attacking the Organization XIII. If they complete Kingdom Hearts, there will be no stopping them. No matter how many soldiers the Heartless have, they will still take Wonderland."

The queen thought for a bit, "Well, is the... money involved?"

"Oh yes. We can pay you up to 10,000 munny for your soldiers. In addition, we can ganutee round-the-clock protection. It's a win-win for you. the only thing we ask is 10 munny per soldier and about 1000."

"Okay, you have a deal."

"Thank you, ma'am. You won't regret this."

"I'm sure I won't. But first you must do me a favor."

"Anything."

"I need to know that you two are worthy. So I've constructed a challenge for you two. If you can pass thourgh th Loctus Forest and make it to the Mad Tea House and bring me one cup of tea from the Mad Hatter, called Keystone Tea, then you have my alliance."

"That doesn't sound too tough."

"Ohh, I forgot. You both have to beeat the Three Mad Challenges provided by the Mad Hatter."

"I've heard of him," said Terra, "He's some old coot who's gone mad with lonliness."

"That he has."

"Well," I said, "We can do that if you can also supply a gummi ship."

"Only if you bring it back to me."

"You have my word."

"Oh wait," she said, "And you have to be back by sundown." she laughed a little to herself.

* * *

The Loctus Forest was a tough place to navigate thourgh. Terra used his sense of direction to get us aroung, though. We were getting close. I could smell delicous tea. I knew it wasn't just me becasue Terra had the same grin on his face. Things went as planned until we heard hysteric laughin from nowhere.

"Who's there?" yelled Terra.

A purple cat materialized on top of a high stump.

"Who am I? Who am I? Well I'm on cool cat, no doubt about that. So I'll ax me to ax you... where are you to gentlemen going?" it sang.

"We're on our way to see the Mad Hatter." said Terra.

"The Mad Hatter? The Mad Hatter's a little mad, don't it sound?"

"What?"

"Well I know things, boys. I know everything. I know the queen sent you. I know she's playing you."

"What? I'd say you're the mad one."

"Think about it. If you succed, then she gets tea and new prisoners, if you fail, then you die and she can stay clear of the war."

Terra thought. "Well that does make sense. But how do we know you're not playing us."

"You're the keyblade wielder. You figure it out." It began to disappear.

"Hey wait. How'd you know we were kyblade wielders?" But the cat was gone.

"Who was that?" I said.

"Hopefully gone. Let's keep going."

* * *

We reached the Mad Tea House with time to spare before sundown. There was a small house and a table with multiple chairs.

"Hello?" I said. "Is anyone home."

"Home? Home? This is not my home." said a small man in green with a larg hat at the table.

"I could've sworn you weren't there a second ago." said Terra.

"I have that affect on people. I could be there, but I'm here and you'll think I'm in there."

"What? It doesn't matter, we need tea. Apperantly the tea called the Keystone Tea." I said.

"Keydtone Tea? That's my most magical tea. It provides power and luck for those who drink it. You can have an entire barrel."

"Wow, really."

"No. First you must pass my Three Mad Challenges."

"Three Mad Challenges?"

"Yes. They are very hard and VERY mad."

"Okay, what are they."

"One: Choose the seat at my table that belongs to the March Hare. Two: Turn the water on in the Bizarre Room. Three: Beat me in a game of croquet."

"Those don't sound too hard."

He laughed hysterically, "You'll see."

Terra and I looked nervously at each other.


	13. The Three Mad Challenges

"Aha! You did it son!" said the Mad Hatter when Terra chose the right seat to sit at. "It looks like you friend has to complete challenge number two."

"It can't be that tough." I walked out the door to the bizarre room. It was bizarre. The furniture was curved in every direction, but that wasn't the bizarre part. The room itself had been tuned on it's side. But I was standing on the wall, so the walls were the ceiling and floor and vise verca. I saw the sink. I was on the roof, or the wall across from me. It was hard to tell. I wlked to a door on my right. I walked thourgh and came out on the roof. This was getting wierd. I ran to the door across from me and came out on the floor. I ran to the other door and came out by the sink. I turned the sink on. It turns out gravity doesn't apply to water. I fell right to the opposite wall. I ran back thourgh the door I just came out of and found a bucket and returned to the wal the water was falling off of. It put the bucket under it and... done. I had a bucket full of bizzare water. I ran back out to the Mad Tea House.

"Oh. You did it? I'm impressed. Now I guess you can both compete in the next challenge, but I may warn you. No one was ever beaten me at criquet."

"Bring it on." said Terra.

"Fine. You asked for it." He brought out three flamingoes that stood up srtaight to look like golf clubs.

"Are you serious?"

"Serious as a day with no tea. I'll go first." He shot a ball thourgh three holes that suddenly appeared just before the ball rolled before them. "Youre turn."

I took a flamingo. I shot the ball. It was a terrible shot, but I used the force of the light to make the rings move and my ball went under five. "I guess that's game."

"What?" he screamed, "No fair! No fair! NO FAIR!" he stormed back into the house and three barrels of Keystone Tea appeared in a cloud of dust, but sundown was coming, we had to hurry.

* * *

We managed to make it back to the courtroom by sundown.

"And just 5 minutes to spare." said the queen.

"Yeah, you got your tea and we're here in time. Now how about that alliance paper." I said.

"Ha! You actually thought I would betray my most loyal protectors for an alliance. You men sicken me. How stupid does it get. I mean, c;mon. I'm known for this kind of stuff."

"We know." said the King of Spades card.

"Who are you?" said Terra.

"I am Captian Spade." I am the general of her army, but the deal was that we would lead an honest and true force. She goes against everything we stand for. You two on the other hand have stuck to your word no matter what the obstacle. We'd be honored to join you."

"Really?"

"Really. There will always be 52 of us, but when one dies, we just print another. We also have 52 gummi ships equipped for war."

"That's great, as soon as we can get a communication set to Mickey, we can get all of this signed and you guys can be prepared."

"Wait!" said the queen, "You can't leave me. I own you!"

"Not anymore, We are going with a better cause than just killing anyone you want."

"Yeah, good bye your majesty." I said.

* * *

We walked into a room with an input pad and a screen.

"The ship's number is 1925-67."

The soldier put it in and Mickey's face showed up on the screen.

"Hello?" he said.

"Mickey!"

"Riku? Riku, where are you."

"I'm in Wonderland. You'll bever guess what just happened. I... then... now we.... It's best if you just flew here."

"Got it, Riku."

"We can wait out by the docks for him."

"That'd be great."

* * *

  
Terra, Captain Spade, and I waited out by the landing area for Mickey's gummi ship. It was there in a matter of 10 minutes.

"Riku, what's the news?" asked Aqua.

I had Terra hide behind a pillar to surprise Aqua.

"Well, I found the Temple of the Kayblade. There was apperantly no exit. But I found one, too bad it landed me on this world. I played my cards right and now we have the Card Army for the war."

"Riku, that's great." said Mickey.

"Oh yeay, and I found something else."

Terra came from behind the pillar. Aqua's eyes widened and joy swept over her face. They ran towards eachother and engaged in a passionate long kiss.

"So, how'd ya find him?" asked MIckey

"I look hard."

"I know what you're thinking, Riku."

"Probably. I do wish that me and Kairi had that."

"Well, that's not what I meant, but okay. So they should be in love. They hadn't seen each other in 3 years."

"3 years? That's a long time."

"War tears people up, Riku. It has a lot of people."

"All the more reason to end it."

"Yeah. Yeah. So let's hit the road."

"So let's recap. First, we had the Radiant Garden militia of about 150 men and 50 men from Traveres Town. Then we got Shangs army of about 200, then over 100 pirates and now 52 card soldiers. So that's over 552 soldiers. So we're strating to have a fair shot at this war."

"We had one since the beginnig, we just needed help."

"I think that Terra and Aqua should be of help."

"Yeah, but we can't bring too many keyblades into this. It might turn into another keyblade war."

"What were the Keyblade Wars?"

"A 7 year war over why the keyblade was created and who it should go to. Some say they aren't over yet."

"Well I guess we should find some more allies. That should be our new objective until we find the castle. That way we have a better chance of victory."

"True. So let's get outta here."

With that, we all left Wonderland.


	14. Your True Destiny

We were back on the Darness Emissary. I looked down at the journal on my nightstand and realized I hadn't read it in a while. I had to catch up on it so I read three pages.

_Well, I'd imagine it'd be a long time since you would read this. Since the exit puts people in a different place every time. The next place you must go is Destiny Islands. Tell Mickey that is 15.4 stars east and 4.87 stars north. There is a secret place behind the waterfall. I'd imagine you know that since Mickey and I placed you there. Well go back there and look for the drawing of a heartless symbol. right under it should be a rock. Under that rock should be a map. You need to destroy that map so it doesn't go ito the wrong hands. I must warn you again not to come in contact with any love intrests. Only Mickey could help you then. I wish you Godspeed Riku. And don't read further until the map is destroyed._

So much for reading ahead. "Hey, Mickey. Go to 15.4 stars east and 4.87 stars north."

"Kay."

* * *

We landed on Destiny Islands. I almost cried when I finally got back to the sandy beaches.

"You left as a boy, but returned as a man."

"What?" I asked.

"Well you grew up here," said Mickey, "You left as a boy, but returned as a man."

"Welcome humble visitors." a fat man with a handlebar mustache was coming towards us. It was the mayor. Also known as Kairi's adopted father. "May we asked why you come to you little Island?"

"Buisness." said Mickey, "War buisness."

"Well, don't ask for an army. You have to earn my men, not beg."

"We intend to earn them." said Terra.

"By God. Are you Terra?"

"Why yes I am."

"Oh wow. You do desrve my men. I'm a big fan of the Colosium Tournies. You must show me some moves."

"He can't" said Aqua hugging him,"We're working on his cockiness."

"I can respect that. And who might you be?" he asked me

"Sir, you don't remeber me? It's Riku."

"Riku! Where've you been. You leave for a year and come back with a king and keyblade masters. One would never suspect that a trouble-maker like you would make it so far. I was about to think that you weld a keyblade. But I see now that you were just hitching a ride."

"Actually," I summoned my keyblade, "we're a team." Just like that Mickey, Terra and Aqua all summoned thier keyblades.

"O, I love watching a good keyblade show-down. I fight with a sword, you guys will have to show me that proper way to fight. Well I must be off, make yourselves at home." He left us.

"Your majesty, were gonna find a place to eat and catch up. Se you in an hour." They walked away holding hands.

"And I best check out the army. You should probaly find Kairi."

"I... I think I'll do that."

I walked back to the part of the beach where a dock connected it to another island. Kairi was there with a few of her friends from school. She looked so cute in her uniform. I ran over to her. By the time I was crossing the bridge, a few of her friends were staring at me and bluching. One was even doing her hair. I didn't care how many girls wanted me. I wanted Kairi. I got there and it was hard for her even to see me wit hthe crowd of girls around me.

"Hi, I'm Crystal. I'm not always this messy. Or I can be if you like it." said one.

"I'm Lu, I think you're cute." said another.

I made my way thourgh the crowd and took Kairi's hand. I noticed she hadn't looked up at me.

"Do I know you?" she said.

I had changed a lot this past year. "Kairi, it's Riku."

She looked as if she were about to faint. She did. I carried her back to where my house was. I was the only one who lived there and it was abandoned now. I was followed by girls but I locked them out. I layed Kairi down and fanned her off for a little bit. She had gotten so beautiful. She woke after a little while.

"Riku? Is it really you?"

"Yeah. It's me."

She inhaled strongly and grabbed the back of my head and pushed it against hers. I'd been waiting a long time for her to kiss me how she was. She dragged me down to lay on the bed and before I knew it, I was taking my shirt off. She was taking her clothes off as well. In no time we were both naked still kissing how Terra and Aqua kissed a day back. She wanted me. I wanted her. I didn't care about what might happen, I just didn't want this ecstacy to end.

* * *

"Well, I'm honored that you'd want my army, your majesty." said the mayor.

"Well, I do think it's good," I said.

"You realize that we will ned an amout of money, your majesty."

"Yes, my apprentice, Riku, can get it here by tomorrow."

"So I need to know how they will be fighting."

"They'll be behind the Card Soldiers and firing cannons in the back of the line. If all the soldiers fall, we can bring the best back with potions and pheonix downs."

"I understand. So let me show you the army."

The mayor took me into a training room where hundreds of Shadow heartlss were in multiple rows.

"Heartless?"

"Wesigned a treaty long ago, king, they said if you or your apprentice ever came here, we were to kill you." He pulled out a knife and thried to attck me. I blocked it with the keyblade. I had to warn Riku.

* * *

So there we were. We had just gone all the way and were cuddling next to each other.

"So where were you?" she asked.

"A lot of places. I even went Port Royal."

"You're so lucky. I'd give anything to see the world and not be held in this prison of an island."

"You'll leave someday."

"Riku, promise you'll never leave me."

Then everything made sense. When Mickey said that war torn people apart. Then it happened My heart was rushing I had to get it to stop be fore it killed me. I stood up, but blood was rushing out of my mouth.

"Riku, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I got to go.

"Riku, you're bleeding."

"I need th king."

"Who?"

Then there was a knocking at the door. "Kairi! Open up you little son of a bitch!"

"Shit," she said.

"Who's that."

"Slader. He's my boyfriend. Although I don't really... like him. I'm just afraid of him."

My heart was calming and the blood stopped. "I'll take care of this."

I opened the door and a man taller than me with brown hair down to his shoulders was scowling at me. Kairi got her clothes on and stood behind me.

"Kairi. You whore. Who the hell is this, shithead?"

"Slader, don't."

He went to punch me but I grabbed his fist and thew it back at him.

"Ow!" You're getting it now." He threw another punch and I grabbed it and slammed it in the door.

Mickey came running behind him. "Riku, we have to leave now!"

As a keyblade wielder, I had to take everything in a matter of seconds. First I had Kairi finally loving me, Slader trying to kill me and Mickey telling me to leave plus a task to do for Ansem the Wise. "Hold on."

I ran to the secret spot, found the map and put it in my pocket, then I found Mickey who was holding back Slader who was about to beat Kairi. And Terra and Aqua were being chased by thousands of heartless. I picked up Kairi and ran with the others. Our ship was destroyed.

"My dad has one, it's over there."

We ranto it and unlocked the door. We ran inside but a bigger problem emerged. A tall slender mas with dark hair was wearing the armoor I had when I was possesed. Ans ha had the dark keyblade.

"I'll take care of him." I jumooed out of the ship and striked. He called all of the heartless back and fought. I read his eyes to stay on top of the battle.

"I am Lord Mathius. Dark wielder."

"I am Riku, the one who will kill you."

Mathius and I went at it for quite som time. we fought until I saw an openig to run. I did on boarded the ship We sped out of there. Things looked fine until heartless shihp were chasing us. Then it hit me. "I left the jounal on the other ship."

"No, it's in your pocket." said Aqua.

I checked and there it was, but I could've sworn I left it on the ship. It was almost like it was following me.

We escaped the range of the other ships.

"So now what?" asked Terra/

"We look for more allies." said Mickey.

I wasnn't in the mood to listen to war plans. I went back to one of the bunks to find Kairi.

"We need to talk." she said.


	15. Christmas Town

"Karir, what is it?" Kairi was sitting on her bed and looked rather sad.

"Riku, you know I love you. But... but... what happened back on the island. It was spur of the moment. I felt..."

I put a finger over her mouth. "It never happened."

Smiled a little. "Thanks. You're such a nice guy, ya know that."

"Yeah, it's what I do."

Terra came in the room. "Guys, were about to land in Halloween Town. Prepare for landing."

"We'll be right out."

"Okay. Just making sure." He left.

"I gotta go talk to th king for a momnet. Bye." Kairi left, too.

I took out the journal. Maybe it was following me. I opened it up to page six:

_I hope you carried out my instructions. Remeber you must not spend time with a love intrest. Knowing your father, you probably did the exact opposite and still didn't destroy the map. Well, I have nowhere for you to head now. Although I do have a task for you. You have to find your fathers fake grave and dig it up. His gift to you is in there. That's all you need for now._

That was short, but I had to find the fake tomb of Xehanort.

* * *

Mickey, Terra, Aqua, Kairi, and I stepped out of the ship onto Halloween Town. It looked like something out of a horror film. We weren't dressed up in scary garb so people stared as we walked by. We were looking for Jack Skellington. He was at some mad scientists house.

"So we were wondering if you would like to send your minions out to battle for the war. You'll be fighting for the right side."

"No," said Jack, "My people are not killers. There are craftsmen."

"Craftsmen?" asked Mickey, "Would they be interested in making us weapons?"

"Hmm? I guess if we had the protection from harm and would not get hurt."

"Not a single soul would be harmed. You'll be miles away from the battle to be honest."

"Hmm? I make you a deal. If you can get Sandy Claws to get his elves to help my scarers make weapons."

"Deal."

We left the house to make a plan.

"Okay we need to find Christmas Town. I can't go because I have to make repairs to the ship. This is too hard to be any kind of learning expierence and Terra, remeber what you said to me earlier... so you can't go. That leaves Aqua and you, Riku."

"We can do it." said Aqua.

"Godspeed."

Mickey took a wrench out of his pocket and tighten the door.

* * *

Aqua and I reached the Hinterlands in no time.

"From the directions that clown gave us, the doors should be that way." I said.

"I know."

We walked foward a little more and saw multiple doors with holiday pictures on them. We went in the one that had a Chrstmas tree on it. We fell through somsort of vortex and came out on a hill over looking a merry village that looked as if it were from a Cristmas story book. Santa was here somewhere.

* * *

I walked up to Terra, who was making repairs, "Hey Kairi. What's up."

"No... nothing," I said, "I just wanted to know why you couldn't go with Riku and Aqua?"

His face got serious, "It's none of you buisness."

"Well since we're teammates now..."

"Stop. You maybe traveling with us. You my have feelings for Riku. But you will never be one of us."

I can't beleive he just said that. "I can't belive you just said that. What make you guys different from me."

"A keyblade for one."

"So."

"And we all have a story. At least one with no happy ending." he looked sad.

"Terra... what... whatever I said... I'm sorry."

"That's how it always is isn't it." he stormed away.

I just stood there thinking about what was wrong.

"He's just blowing off steam." Mickey came up behind me. "C'mon. I need help putting new engines."

"Okay. Be right there." Why can't Terra go on a mission. And why did he get so mad. This was not going to be a simple nagotiation.

* * *

"So you see, sir, there will be no harm done to any of your elves. We only ask for you and the monsters of Halloween Town to stay in the shipping garage making repairs." I said. I sounded convincing.

"I see," Santa scratched his beard, " I understand that the King's Army will provide protection from the Nobodies and a pay."

"Well, we can offer protection at the entrence, but we are low on wage. We can promise around 500 to 600 munny for maybe 100 to 120 elves."

"Hmm. This does sound like a win-win. I am thinking yess, but I can't help but think about the revenge the nobodies will take on the allies of the King's Army."

"Mr. Clause, the nobodies are high in number, but only a select few can do real damage to a society like this. However, the King's Army has strength of heart on there side. Our revenge would be worse. Now I'm not saying we will take revenge, but you should be more worried aobut us."

"Well, if you are so much stronger than the Nobodies, than why do you need me?"

"Repairs, sir. Your elves are masters a crafting. If a gummi ship of ours was to be shot down, then we will need your services."

"Ok. I'll do it."

"Great."

"But first, I want to discuss what I will get in return."

"Shoot."

"I have my own fleet of gummi ships. I want you to use them to protect the garage. I want to be the commander of the craftsmen and the Halloween Town craftsmen. I will give you 90 elves for 40 munny. Now the last thing I want is..."

"What? We can assure everything else, what else could there possibly be?"

"See, you brought a lady with you. I believe she is out in the square. If you can get me a date with her, I'll do it."

I stood with my jaw dropped, "No offesnse, sir, but aren't you married?"

"Well, she's mainly here for marketing. We've hit some rough patches but she can't leave. If poeple find out that she does I'll be ruined. So we agreed that we can both fool around as long as no one knows."

"I... I... uh..."

"If I get that date, then you get my alliance. No good day."

"He kicked me out, but I still couldn't believe the request.

"So how'd it go?" Aqua came up behind me. I couldn't blame Sant for wanting to date her. She was beautiful.

"Uhh... He said he'll do it on one condition."

"What is it?"

"He wants to date you."

Aqua had the emptiest look in her eyes.


	16. All There Ever Was

"What?" He wants to date me? Tell him no!" Aqua was pretty pissed.

"I don't see the problem. It's only one date with a rich man..."

"Oh so now I'm a gold digger?"

"No. But it's for a good cause. If you say yes then we have two alliagnces. He's a nice guy. I met him."

Aqua took a deep breth and paused for a while, "Fine. I already have a boyfriend, though. But I'll do it."

"Great. Aqua you rule."

"Only if Terra never finds out. It's between you and me."

"Fine. He'll never know."

"Okay, so give me the details."

* * *

Mickey pulled out some ice cream an he, Terra, and I sat at the table inside me dad's gummi ship.

"So like I was saying," Mickey was telling an interseting story about how he was a magician a few years back, "Donald was really jealous that I got the gig at the Wlat Theater. He wanted to impress Daisy. So while I was doing me card trick, he spays seltzer in my face. So I," Mickey was giggling by this time, "I Put my hat by his face and two dozen dove fly out on top of him." We all cracked.

"You had a pretty interesting life." I said. "What made you go and become king?" I took a bite of ice cream.

Mickey looked up into the sky in a daze, "I didn't leave it. Did Riku ever tell you how we escaped enermal darkness?"

"No."

"Well, it's quite the tale."

"C'mon, your highness, tell us." said Terra.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afaid I can't."

"Why not?"

Mickey's grin was slowly going away, "We saw what the darkness can do to a man. It's not pretty. Unfortunately, a man can never utter what it is. You must see for yourself."

"How would Riku telling us be any different then?" asked Terra.

"Riku can manipulate darkness. He always has. That's why he avoids it so well."

Wow. Riku can manipulate darkness. I'll have to talk with him about that.

* * *

Aqua had on a revaeling red dress with white fur trim which made her look incredibly sexy.

"Stop staring." she said, "It's bad enough I have to go an a date with this centry old pervert, but it's worse to have you gawking at me." I couldn't tell if she sounded seductive or mad.

"Well, it's only one night. And remeber, I'm right behind you if you need help."

That's good. So how do I look?"

"Amazing, but why do you care. You hardly know this guy."

"I know... I just like to look nice."

"Years of fighting hasn't taken your feminism away, has it?"

She giggled and blushed a little. "Ya know, Riku, I... I"

She stopped for a little, "What is it?"

"I just want you to know that when Mickey told us that Terra was dead, I was considering you."

I was speechless. "I.. uhh."

"Well, I don't want to be late. Bye." She kissed me on the cheek and ran off.

Even though temperature was 12 degrees, her kiss made my cheek heat up intensly. She was beautiful. I wonder what a girl like her would do with a fugutive like me. I guess she's one of those girls who constantly needs a boyfriend to feel complamented and keep her self-esteem up. I wonder how thier date was going. Then I remembered. I was supposed to be right behind her. Oh crap, where'd she go?

* * *

"Okay, so there I was, it was me and Pete. One last battle for Minnie. I only had my spirits and a broken sword. Maybe one swing left in it...."

Mickey's storys were so amazing. Terra and I just listened as we worked on my dad's old gummi. It was called th "Kair". He was a good man.

"Haha. Great ending, Mickey." said Terra.

"Thanks Terra."

"Mickey, did you know anything about my father."

Mickey's face turned form gleeful to stoic. "Why?"

"Well, cause he raised me."

"Kairi........ He wasn't your real father."

"What," those words stung, "What do you mean?"

Mickey looked down, "Your biological father left you after you mom gave birth to you, she couldn't handle the prssures of a kid just yet so she gave you to her dad. He was a great father."

"He couldn't have been that great if he left me on those crappy islands."

"Crappy? Isn't that your home. Isn't that where you met Sora and Riku."

"Well, All I ever wanted was to see the worlds..."

"You and your grandfather saw many worlds. He took you on research expeditions with him when you were younger." Mickey was sounding angry.

"Well that's no excuse. Why wasn't he there for me."

"It's not that simple, Kairi."

"Fine, your the story guy. You tell it."

Mickey changed from angry, to stoic. "Okay. It begins during you birth...

_(Flashback) A woman is giving birth to a bay girl. Her, the doctor, Mickey, and Kairi's grandfather are the only ones in the room._

_"Keep going. I can see it. Your almost thourgh." the doctor was guiding her thourgh."_

_The woman was screaming in pain._

_"It's out." said the doctor_

_She was repedialy panting. "Oh God. What the Hell. Let me hold her!" She demanded._

_Mickey and Kairi's grandfather were forced to leave to give the doctor and the woman some privacy. They walked to the lobby to see Kairi's dad sitting there._

_"Where were you. You missed the birth." said Mickey_

_"I didn't plan on seeing it."_

_"What do you mean?" asked Kairi's grandfather._

_"I'm leaving them."_

_Mickey and Kairi's grandfather stood speachless. "But why?" asked Mickey._

_"Look at me," He had on ragged clothes, which were the best he could afford since he was unemployed, "I'm a mess. How can I possibaly raise a child."_

_Kairi's grandfather spoke up, "Raising a child is not about you. It's about her. That's what being a man is. You must step up and answer your callof destiny. Right now the little girl in there needs you to be a father and if you walk away from that... I used to respect you. You had no job, but you still hung around for this girl. If you leave now, I'll lose every ounce of respect I had for you."_

_Kairi's dad looked disappointed in himself, "I'm sorry. I just can't." With that, he left._

_(Present)_

"Then what?" asked Terra.

"It's time for bed. I'll continue in the morning." He walked back to his cabin.

How could I have a different father than the one I knew?

* * *

The sun rose out of the clouds the next morning. I hadn't realized I fell asleep. I was supposed to be looking for Aqua, but she could hold her own. I fell asleep against a lamp post, but an elderly woman took me in and set me in a warm bed. People were nice here. I haven't heard of a single bad thing yet. This wasn't my kind of place. I walked out and decided to continue my search for Aqua.

I walked down to Noel Plaza, where most of the commotion was, and decided to start there. I couldn't find her. I went back to Santa's house to see if everything went okay. The door was open so I let myself in. I walked around for a little in the living room. I could hear faint snoring. I followed the noise back to his bedroom. I opened the door. I still am not sure if what I saw was true. Santa and Aqua were cuddling naked?

"Wha ah!" I woke both of them and Aqua screamed. She got up and ran out while covering herself with the blanket. "What the Hell? I thought it was just a date."

"Well..." he fumbled with his words, "It was until... I put my charm on. No girl can resist my charm."

"Aren't you being a little cocky?"

"No, I'm serious. I was givin a gift to find a wife that no girl can resist sleeping with me if I asked them to."

"That's a little creepy. Anyway, we have an alliance, right?"

"Oh yeah. I could say no when she..."

"Okay that's all I need."

I grabbed her clothes and ran out and found Aqua crying in a phone booth.

"Aqua, what's wrong?"

She sobbed for a bit longer and said: "I can't believe I slept with that pervert. I mean... he was charming, but Terra's the only man I'll need."

"Oh, Aqua, it's gonna be alright."

"No it's not. I didn't even tell you why I slept with him."

"Aqua, why?"

"Riku, I... I'm pregnant."


	17. Plans and Aviation

"What? Is it Terra's" I didn't know what to say.

"Of course it's Terra's. I slept with that fat bastard because he made me feel like I needed more. Like I needed one last time before I settled down." Aqua sobbed. She still kept crying after a good five minutes.

"Hey, it's okay. Cheer up. Think about it. You're gonna be a mom now. A new life's going to enter yours and you'll love it more than life itself."

"Yeah but it'll still have the smae fate as the rest of the babies born in a public hospital."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that if a public hospital gives birth to a baby, Organization XIII take it because they're afraid that'll grow up with the war and overturn them."

"Oh," There's not much I could say, "Aqua, I promise you that by the time that baby is born, I will end this war."

Her crying stopped a little, "Promise?"

"On my heart."

She actually smiled and the, she was ecstatic. "Oh Riky. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"It uhh... was no problem."

"Not only do I believe in you, but you've given me the hope to have this baby regardless of Organization XIII. And I want you to know that I'll do anything to help you find that castle."

We walked back to the ship with nothing but good news. Terra's reaction was better than I expected when he found out he was going to be a dad and that I'll end the war for him and Mickey was glad that we had two more alliances. We celebrated with the Halloween Town citizens for hours. It has the dead of night and I was staring over the border of holidays when I heard footsteps behind me.

"So how're you gonna do it?" they asked. It was Mickey.

"I don't know. I can start by finding the castle. We have over 700 soldiers. about 550 gummi ships and more if the craftsmen pull through. We can launch a siege that'll keep from babbies and onto us."

"That's a perfect and logical plan... but..."

"But what. I think it's good. it'll be better if we get more soldiers and ships, but I don't see that happening."

"What if they see us coming? What if they're prepared?"

"Well, they won't be. It'll be a complete surprise. The only person who can sense rebellion or unusualness is Zexion and he's long been dead."

"I know, but.... There's a strange feeling in the pit of my stomache that's telling me that this is a very bad idea."

"I don't think it'll work either but what choice do we have? Aqua's pregnant and time's running out. All I'm saying is that people are dying and it's up to us to save them. We're the heroes, Mickey, we have to win."

Mickey looked a little more distraught than usual. "At the castle we have 50 war tankers, if we can track down castle oblivion, we can transport soldiers there. We hae a shot, but it's up to you if we take it."

I paused and thought about it, "I'll take it."

* * *

Morning had come. Mickey took Kairi, Aqua, and Terra to the Disney Castle. He left me on my own to find a gummi ship and find the Caslte That Never Was.I borrowed Santa Clause's. His was one of the fastest in the worlds. I knew it could find the castle by sundown. I saw a trail of darkness on the scanner. It only shows 2 years changes at a time and the last changes was last year. I saw the pattern. They started at 6 stars north and 5 stars west. 65 was the number lines in LOVELESS in 1732. The next was 17 stars north 3 stars west. Then number of lines in A WORLD NO HEART in 1733. And so on. The last was 4 stars north 57 stars west. 475 was the lines in SOUL CAPITULATE in 1798. The next poem in the series was NOT THE WAY TO THE LIGHT. It had 129 lines. So they were either at 1 star north 29 stars west or 12 stars north 9 stars west. I'll try the first one. I only found the world of the Pride Lands. So I went to the next. There it was. It was the castle. I contacted Mickey.

"Riku! You don't understand how great that is. Not only did you find the castle but you did it in less than an hour. Meet me at the Disney Castle."

"Got it."

I shut off the transmitter and flew to the casle I went to the Audience chambe, it was full of soldiers from all of the worlds we visited. The Hollow Bastion militia, Shang's Army, The Card Soldiers, Mickey's Royal Knights, Halloween Towns people, Christmas Elves, Phil's champion fighters and he broght the worlds best pilots for the gummi command. Mickey was sitting up at the throne with He beckoned me to stand beside him. An apprentice was always to stand at the right on his master. Mickey began:

"Soldiers. For this battle, there is no discrimination of worlds, no dividing of haratige. This battle is of honor, purity, and the ultimate light. You have all gone down in history. As the men who stopped the corrupt Organization XIII. They've taken our lives and our freedom. We live in fear of thier fist. It's time the fear stopped. We have found thier base. We divised a plan. Now my apprentice Riku will explain."

I walked to the side of the room and took out my pointer. There was a projector screen with Terra turning the slides.

"Okay. The castle is at 12 stars north 9 stars west. It is right between Beast's Castle and Olympus Collosium. We currently have it under watch. Now the city under has a bridge activated by emptiness. We have the Sould Eater to open that up. Now Phil's champions will fight at the gate of the castle. They'll be backed up by the Card Soldiers. You guys should fight together. If you work together, you can clear a path for Hollow Bastion's flyers to come in at the lowwer landing point. You all will go up to the Transmitter room and take out the main transmitter. With out command we'll have a smooth ffight both on air and on land. Now the onl land plan is for Terra to lead Shang's army and take out any other Nobodies that may cause trouble. Now in the air, we'll have Phil's flyers, Card Gummis, and the Royal flyers to take out the ships. Mickey and I will take our own personal gummis into the core and take on the member with the Hollow Bastion militia with us. Now if any shipd get damaged, return to the garage and have one of the elves or monsters fix it. Any questions? No? If your not up to the challenge, leave. If you are, scream."

The noise was ear busting loud in the chamber. We had done it. We had a shot to win.

* * *

"Mickey?"

"Yeah, Riku?"

"Where' Kairi? Or Aqua? I haven't seen them since we got here."

Mickey sighed, "Riku, Kairi can't get involved in the war. Yet she can't go back to Destiny Islands till it's over. Aqua's pregnant and unable to fight. I had to leave them at Hollow Bastion."

"What!? They need to be here Hollow Bastion's dangerous."

"They don't need to fight. Besides, Leon and the gang can protect them in Hollow Bastion. It's full of heartless excenpt when Leon, Tifa, Yuffie, or Cloud are aroud. And Aeith id an expert curer. It's the perfect location."

I didn't like the idea. But it was the best one. "Fine, but once we win you have to promise me to return her to me."

"Fine. Good night, Riku."

* * *

I remebered that I had to find my father's grave. I went to the graveyard at the castle. It had to have some kind of clue. I went to the latest one_. Xehanort, the apprentice of Ansem the Wise. He was a good man gone bad. Rest in the underworld, my friend. _:it read. I dug up as far as i could until I reached the coffin. I opened it and... it was key. There was a note under it. It read:

_"Son, You may never be alive to recive this, but I trust my master with my life. Give this my friend, Mickey, and ask him where the Aviation Minerva is. He'll give you my old friend. Good bye and Godspeed, young prince."_

I took the key to Mickey. He couldn't believe it. He took me to an old garage and the greatest gummi ship I had ever seen was in front of me. It had a battle shape and hot rod purple with yellow stripes. There were plenty of guns and warp bootsers. It was part of the Falcon set. It was a Falcon 6 to be exact. The Aviation Minerva was a true masterpiece. I had found the ship I'd sae the world in.


	18. Roxas

I woke up the next morning pretty early for my usual wake up hour. I picked up Ansem's journal and read.

_Riku, I hope you like the Aviation Minerva. It was your father's favorite ship. He won many a battle in it. He claimed it was good luck. He also was a wielder of a keyblade. A gifted one at that. The kaybled wars turned him against the keyblade. Your mother was a generous woman though. She did evil and dire things after her turn to the dark side. She had a gift for you, too. It was destroyed when Mickey lied aobut your death to her. It was her mothers necklace. It shed light when there was none. However, it is gone forever. There is a sweet little girl in Hollow Bastion right now. She is my grandaughter. She took a liking to you in your childhood. You would remeber her if we hadn't swiped your memories of me. Anyone with a connection to me is now gone in your mind. BUt not forever. Continue my research. That is why I wrote this journal. The darkness files will teach you more. Or if you find me, I will tel you. See I am not dead. Only lying to protect the ones I love. You must expose me. You must become me. _

I almost threw the book out the window. I had just about heard enough of this guy's crap. I only had one page left. I put the book down. I had heard just about enough of what he had to say. I walked out to the courtyard and found the card soldiers training with Phil's Champions. They were getting better. It was only a matter of days until we set sail for The Castle That Never Was. I went to find Mickey. He was with Minnie on the balcony. I didn't disturb them. I knew how long they were apart compared to me and Kairi's time apart. I took the Aviation Minerva out for another spin. It sailed like butter. There was no way the Organization would see me coming in this.

* * *

I walked along the long corridor the castle. I had the strange feeling that I was being used.

"Hey Roxas," yelled Xigbar from the library, "Roxas, get down here."

I walked down to the library, "What is it, Xigbar."

"Hey, kid, I gots to ax you sumthin'. Now there's word of impending doom. I think it's a bunch a phooy. What do you think?"

"I don't know. Why are you asking me?"

"'Cause. If there is an attack, my snipers and your samuris are gonna be the first battalion out there. We can win. But not without eachother."

"Why do you need me, then. Everyone knows that my stats are among the third lowest and the samuris numbers have been depleting."

"Cheesh bro. I thought you'd jump at the idea. But I can always ask Luxord."

"No," I said, "Luxod can't be trusted. He's too persuasive."

"Why do you care. Without a keyblade it's suicide. Unless you want to go."

"Wait... a keyblade?"

"Yeah. If they sense a weilder in the area, they'll go around and try to find another way in. If we know what way they're going, we can surprise jump 'em."

"So I'm only here as a decoy. No deal. Have fun getting conned by Luxord." I walked away.

"Yeah, I waouln't trust me either. I mean after all I do know where Namine is hiding."

I stopped and ran back to him with the Oblivion to his throat. "Where is she?" I demanded.

"Well, that all depends on wether or not you help me."

I didn't trust Xigbar, but I had no choice. "Fine. I'll help."

"Good. Now this conversation never happened."

I wish it hadn't.


End file.
